We were able to have the luxury of a guest speaker at our last class, whose main focus is on accessibility (which is the focus on trying to make our designs able to be used by a wider audience). During this talk, we learned a great deal about how much accessibility should play into our designs (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!). Here’s a recap:
* Sometimes people think those who are disabled aren’t too smart, or have a lot wrong with them – but this not the case. Rather, they are very clever and smart in figuring out ways to overcome their problems in their ordinary lives.
* Accessibility is something that is pretty easy to start seeing in the world around us. Take a look at curb cuts in the road, the different types of technologies which assist people, and also in the web.
* Accessibility is not only for those who are disabled, but it also helps those who have the full use of all of their senses as well.
* If one is designing for a government, one has to know about accessibility, as it helps to grant equal access to those who can’t necessarily speak up for themselves. One may also lose their job in this situation if their designs are not accessible – it’s the law!
* It is also cheaper to design with accessibility in mind at the beginning of the design process than to stick it onto a redesign.
* There are many tools out there which can help designers make sure they are following the minimum standards of accessibility, but one should also use common sense when designing as well.
* It is also important to note that 1 in 5 in the US has a disability, making accessibility a big issue.
* Using a screen reader and designing for the blind is just one facet of the accessibility problem. These aren’t the only problems out there.
* Technologies have been created to help people with this issues. For example, motorized tables have been created to make using a computer easier for someone who can’t use a normal table.
* There are standards out in the real world to help designers – one just needs to take a quick look on the web and one can find them! It is actually only a couple additional steps to design and code with accessibility in mind.
* One can begin to start feeling the pain of accessibility issues by role playing – but don’t take it too far (e.g. blindfolding oneself while driving to simulate being blind. This is just a dangerous situation waiting to happen!).
* The only way to start thinking for someone who may have accessibility problems is to tap into our powers of people here at IU. There is the Stonebelt Center. One could take another person shopping who has one of these issues to see how it is firsthand to have issues like these. One can also look at the Adaptive Technology Center of UITS to begin to get an idea as to how IU tackles this problem.
* Usability testing is completely different when testing out a design for someone with accessibility issues. It takes care, patience, creativity, and empathy to do this correctly (this also applies to the whole design process as well!).
Thanks again to our speaker!